(A)musings of a bro you know: Tatted up!

No not me, this time (don't worry mom). A couple of weekends ago I did get to go to the Boston Tattoo Convention, which was a pretty tight to say the least. I scalped a wristband off of some guy outside the Sheraton ballroom where the convention was held for $10 and went in not knowing what to expect, but it was well worth the (reduced) price of admission. There were probably 50 booths with tattoo artists from across the country showing off their stuff. I was under the impression they'd have brochures and pictures set up, but these guys were getting after it, tatting up anyone and everyone and really showing that they were top artists.

Tattooing is a pretty amazing art considering that artists not only sketch out designs but then lay them down on a living, breathing, and often twitching canvas with no room for error. I was fortunate enough to bring my camera along and catch some of the action. The ballroom had some awful artificial light so I wasn't able to catch a lot of the people walking around with their tats, just the people getting worked on (flash was obnoxious and I tried to avoid it). I met an old couple with tattoos that they had gotten in their 60s and when I asked them why so late they told me they were practice dummies for their son, who was now a professional tattoo artist. Now that's some unconditional love, don't know if I'd go for that hah. I saw some unbelievable sleeves and scalp tattoos as well as some beautiful extended works that wrapped around people's bodies (including a guy with tattooed-on sideburns). It really is amazing how much some people dedicate to their tattoos, and how these pieces of body art connect people. Relative strangers bound by ink, very cool, glad I got to check it out.

Oh and a on a cheesy pop culture note, got to see some people from the Real World at the convention as well as a tattoo bikini fashion show? Not complaining. I'll try and catch up on my posting this week, I know all 10 of you readers are getting anxious.